By Luke McGinnis
The opening period in Dundee featured back-and-forth action, with both goaltenders called upon to make several key saves throughout.
Tensions began to rise just past the halfway mark when Emil Kruse was run into by a Storm player. Jackson DeSouza and Dallas Ehrhardt immediately dropped the gloves, energising the Dundee crowd with a spirited heavyweight tilt.
A slashing call against Hampus Olsson late in the period handed the visitors a powerplay, and Joseph Nardi capitalised at 19:03, firing a one-timer past Kruse to give Manchester a 1-0 lead heading into the first intermission.
The Stars came out strong to start the second period, applying sustained pressure as they looked to level the score. A solid cycle in the offensive zone led to Keanu Yamamoto’s shot being saved by Drew DeRidder, but the rebound fell perfectly for Morten Jürgens, who buried it to make it 1-1 at 24:04.
A neutral-zone turnover sent Kaleb Ergang in on a breakaway for the Storm, where he fed Joseph Nardi in the high slot. Nardi made no mistake, scoring his second of the game at 33:56 to restore Manchester’s lead.
In the third period, Kruse made an initial save on a Storm attempt, but Stephen Johnson was first to the rebound and extended the lead to 3-1 at 43:40.
Dundee thought they had pulled one back at 51:05, when Morten Jürgens redirected Justin Bean’s point shot into the Storm net. However, after a video review, it was determined that Jürgens had kicked the puck past DeRidder, and the goal was disallowed.
Loren Ulett sealed the win for Manchester with an empty-net goal late, as the Storm left Dundee with two points.
